Evade (The Ever Trilogy) (2 page)

“O
h my God, Ever, seriously. Snap out of it!”

“Sorry, Jess.”

I’d apologized at least five times since we set out for this trip. I watched her shuffle the deck of cards and deal them out between us on her pull-down tray. I leaned my forehead against the window and looked down at the wide expanse of nothing but the top side of clouds. We’d be in Cabo San Lucas in just over three hours. A trip that had been gifted to us, thanks to my mom’s best friend Sharon and her unused timeshare week, and a bit of my dad’s life insurance money for airfare and spending. Seven long, all-inclusive days in Cabo. I could do it. I’d put on a happy face for our vacation, and I’d try to enjoy myself. After all, a seven-day vacation in Mexico with my best friend should be something to cross off my bucket list.

But I couldn’t help counting down the days. I’d been counting down since the words first left Ariadne’s perfect mouth.
‘You have one year, Ever. I will come collect your soul in place of Frankie’s when you turn nineteen.’
One year. Which really wasn’t fair since it had already been at least a week since my birthday when she’d said it. She should have said, ‘You have fifty-one weeks.’ But whatever. That was just a silly technicality, and now I was down to two-hundred seventy-eight days anyway.

“Ev?”

I still couldn’t believe any of it was real. But I’d seen it for myself. Frankie was alive again. Toby, Greg, and Ariadne were soul collectors. My soul was—

“Ever! Hello? It’s your turn!” Jessie’s annoyance was loud and clear. The man in the seat next to her leaned forward a bit and glared at me.

“Sorry, Jess. Can we just skip this game? I’m pretty tired.”

Jessie’s face took on ‘the look’—the expression she wore all the time now, it seemed. Annoyance. Exasperation. Maybe a little anger added in there for good measure. Though it drove me up the wall, I can’t say I blamed her. I couldn’t be much fun to be around these days, especially now that I was headed south to Mexico, and Frankie was stuck at home in Orange.

Arriba.

“Fine. Whatever. Sleep if you must. But this is it. Once we land, there will be no time for sleeping, and that pouty face better stay on the plane when we get off.”

I rolled my sweatshirt into a makeshift pillow, then closed my window and rested my head uncomfortably on my faux-cushion, doubting that I’d be able to sleep. Eventually sleep found me, however restless it was. I kept waking up because my mouth fell open, or because the kid behind me kicked my seat. At one point, he even pulled my hair when he grabbed the top of the seat to yank himself up. That was a pleasant experience.

But worse than the punk kid behind me, or the growing drool stain on my hoodie, were my chaotic dreams.

Toby still haunted them. Though not in a bloody, fear-inducing way. He was always there when I closed my eyes: smirking at me that sexy way he did, or brushing my hair out of my face before bringing his lips to mine.

And those were just the PG-rated dreams.

Ugh.
Wasn’t I supposed to be over that guy? I mean, seriously. Why did my subconscious mind obsess over him so much, all these months later?

I dozed off again, pondering why I was kissing Frankie during the day and subconsciously cheating on him with Toby during the night, which probably didn’t help to keep the latter from sneaking into my dreams.

The plane’s rocky landing startled me awake. Toby’s fingertips had just brushed across my mouth, and his lips had been about to connect with mine.
Dammit!
These dreams had to stop.

I grumbled under my breath as the plane jerked around. I loved flying, but the landing terrified me every time. This time was not very smooth, so my heartbeat took its sweet time slowing down to a normal rate again. That could have been due to the pervy dream as well, though I tried not to overanalyze
that
.

Of course, had the landing not awoken me, the excited squeals from Jessie would have done the trick just fine. I wished her excitement was transmittable, but the guy next to her didn’t seem to be catching any of it, so I was probably out of luck on her happiness becoming a contagion. I plastered a smile to my face anyway, and tried to fake it. For her sake, at least.

“Oh my God, I’m so excited! Nothing but margaritas, beaches, and
boys
for the next seven days!”

Seven days. I’d already done the math, of course. When we got back home, I’d only have two-hundred seventy-one days of life remaining.

Jess and I followed the other passengers off the airplane single file, and were greeted with intense heat when we exited. The sun was high in the sky and shining brightly. I tilted my head up, closing my eyes, and let the sun’s rays warm my skin. I sighed. I could do this. I already felt better.

The woman behind me cleared her throat.

I’d held up the line soaking in the sun, and Jessie was already halfway across the tarmac. Her blonde bob bounced with each step she took. She turned back and waved her hands around in exasperation.

I looked to the lady behind me and smiled. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, sweetie. The sun sure feels great, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. It definitely does.”

“You better catch up to your friend there, hon; she looks about ready to explode from excitement.”

I nodded, my own wide smile matching hers, and turned back to the stairway. I hurried down the stairs and caught up with my travel partner. Jessie’s grin could only be classified as huge. Her tiny pink dress did little to cover her up, and I watched as every airport worker, along with just about every male traveler—and even a few of the women—watched Jessie bounce her way into the building.

The boys of Mexico better watch out; I was about to unleash a hot pink tornado on them.

Turned out everyone else’s excitement was infectious after all. I actually felt good. Well, maybe not good exactly, but definitely better. Jessie was beyond happy, the travelers around us were practically buzzing with excitement, and I was about to spend seven days in a Mexican paradise with the girlfriend I loved most in the world. I could do this.

Jessie grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. I was apparently going too slow for her liking, even though I was right behind her.

“Where are the people with the leis?”

“I think that’s only in Hawaii, Jess.”

“So? They should do it here, too. Except, like, greet us with a sombrero and a margarita instead of a lei.” She paused by a particularly cute airport worker and said, “Hola,” in the sexiest voice she could muster.

I swear the guy drooled.

I stifled a laugh and shook my head.

“Come on, harlot.” I pulled Jessie along, trying to avoid being the cause of any traffic jams or workers getting fired for spacing out on the job.

“Flirting, Ever, just harmless flirting. That hardly makes me a harlot.”

“No, what you plan on doing with the guys you meet later makes you a harlot.”

“I’m offended, Ever Van Ruysdael.”

“No. You’re not.”

Jessie squealed. “I know! I’m not at all! Know why?”

I humored her. “Why?”

“Because we’re in Meh-hee-co, you old bore! Ai ai ai ai!”

This time it was me who pulled Jessie forward, as we continued to follow the wave of tourists through the airport.

Going through Customs turned out to be a hellish experience, and I really hoped it wouldn’t be the same way on our way back into the United States. We retrieved our bags from the conveyor belt in baggage claim, then made our way outside in search of our hotel’s van service.

Luckily, the drive to the resort didn’t take too long, and the driver had cold Coronas and chips and salsa in the van waiting for us. Talk about service.

Jessie had no qualms about drinking—which had been obvious by the amount of margarita references she’d made leading up to the trip—and when her lips hit that bottle of beer, I wondered if she’d finish the whole thing in one swig. Who was this girl? I’d never been a big drinker, and even though I was legally old enough in Mexico, it still felt weird. But I took a few sips of beer to counteract the heat from the salsa. No harm in that.

Our timeshare hotel was even better than the pictures in the pamphlets the travel agent showed us. After checking in, we made our way to the room to drop off our bags and freshen up, but Jessie was in a huge hurry to get to the pool bar, so she reminded me numerous times that there would be no resting.

Our suite had two rooms near the entry, then a bathroom, and a kitchen/living area beyond that. A large sliding glass door shed bright sunlight into the living area. I picked the room on the left and threw my stuff down on a small blue chair in the corner. My balcony looked out to the ocean, and the crystal blue water was hypnotic. I sat down on the bed, stretching out my legs, and noting with relief how soft the mattress was. Maybe I’d actually get a good night’s sleep.

“Oh my God! Can you believe this hotel suite? It’s like a condominium!” Jessie’s voice was far away, and I wondered how big the suite actually was. Guess I’d have to eventually venture past my room to check it out.

The walls of the bedroom were a bright, happy shade of yellow, and I have to admit, the cheery decor made me feel even less grumpy. I’d be enjoying myself in no time. Especially if Jessie had anything to do with it. My eyes were closed, but I didn’t need to see her to sense her impatience. I could hear her wedge-heeled foot tapping away in the doorway to my room.

“Oh no you don’t. I warned you on the plane. No rest for the wicked, remember? We’ll sleep when we’re dead.”

I opened one eye and looked at her.
Dead
for her meant something completely different than it did for me. After all, as far as we knew, I’d be dead in less than a year. Two-hundred seventy-eight days, to be exact.

“Oh. I mean…um…”

“It’s fine, Jess. Relax.”

“Sorry, Ev. I wasn’t thinking. But seriously, get up! We’re on
vacation
! Viva la Meh-hee-co!”

I laughed as she did a weird salsa-samba-sashay dance move thing over to the bed and tried to drag me off it.

“Fine! I’m coming, I’m coming! Just promise me you’ll never do that move again.”

“What, this?”

She shook her boobs in my face then spun around, making her little pink sundress expose the bottom half of her butt cheeks. I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Jess, seriously, is that even a dress?”

“It’s a tunic.” She responded matter-of-factly, as if that was a logical answer.

“A tunic, huh? Well, I’m pretty sure that means it’s a
shirt
. You know, the kind you wear with pants? Or shorts? Or even a skirt?”

“I have pants on.”

“I don’t think
underpants
count, Jess.”

“I’m on vacation. I’m single. I’m an
adult
…and I’m about to put my bikini on under this anyway.” She shrugged, and I knew arguing with her was a lost cause. She fiddled with her cropped blonde hair in the mirror and turned back around to face me. “Speaking of pants…you’re changing, right? I mean, we are at the beach, you know.”

Leaving me to change out of my hoodie and jeans, Jessie ran out of the room, only to return seconds later with a determined look in her eyes and a yellow shopping bag in her hands. Uh oh. I knew that look. And that bag.

“I have something for you!” Jessie practically squealed in delight. “You were too sadpants to go shopping for the trip, so your mom and I did a little secret shopping of our own! Open it!”

Somewhat reluctantly but with a hint of curiosity, I took the plastic Forever 21 bag as she thrust it toward me. Noting the expectant look on her face, I couldn’t help but be excited. And slightly embarrassed—she’d been out with my mom, shopping for me and planning this awesome trip for the two of us, and I’d been nothing but gloomy and distant or focused only on Frankie. I felt like a total jerk.

I pulled out three brand new sundresses of varying lengths, all of them black or at least black as the main color, a new fringe bikini, also in black, of course, because clearly my mom and Jessie knew what I liked. The last item I pulled out of the bag was a pair of tight cigarette-pant style, black capris. I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my face.

“You like?” Jessie asked me, though she didn’t need to hear my response to know I liked the new clothes. I could imagine the quickly-forming tears in my eyes were proof enough. “Strip out of your pity-party outfit and throw on a bikini and sundress. This is no place for jeans, Ever Van Ruysdael, and you need some color on those pale legs!”

I can’t say I disagreed. It was way too hot for jeans, and I
had
lost all of my tan. Every bit of color I’d had this summer faded away while I holed myself up in the house with Frankie the last few months.

Jessie left me alone, so I threw on the new bikini, happily noting that the fringe actually helped
minimize
my chest instead of adding bulk to it. I topped it with a black sundress that had varying sized white, lavender and teal stars all over it. The dress was super low cut and way too short, but next to Jessie’s tiny pink
shirt
, my dress looked like a muumuu. I grabbed my wallet, and left the bedroom, finding Jessie bouncing in place by the door of the suite.